Access to Healthcare and Medical Expenditure for the Middle-Aged and Elderly: Observations from China

BACKGROUND: In the evaluation of a healthcare system, it is of interest to identify factors associated with the usage of different healthcare facilities and with different levels of medical expenditure. METHODS: A survey was conducted in January and February of 2012 in China. It focused on the middle-aged and elderly with age of 45 and above. A total of 2,093 people from 1,152 households were surveyed. RESULTS: For inpatient treatment, the probability of using grade III hospitals, which had the highest level of care, was positively associated with age, being married, living in urban areas, and having higher income. For outpatient treatment, the probability of using grade III hospitals was positively associated with age, being married, working in enterprises, living in urban areas, living in central and western regions, and having higher income, and negatively associated with being farmers. The total and out-of-pocket (OOP) medical expenses were analyzed separately. It was found that the expense level was associated with age, education, occupation, living in urban areas, type of hospital used, insurance being used, and per capita income. CONCLUSION: The access to healthcare and level of medical expenditure were found as associated with demographic characteristics. In addition, differences between areas and regions were observed. Such results may be useful for identifying vulnerable population and for tuning future healthcare development policies.